Re: Ze German Thread

[rwo power]

I'm also looking forward to a great match! The German defense is probably a bit dubious again (Löw even talked about Lars Bender as RB, so he is not fully convinced of either Boateng or Höwedes), so we'll probably get a lot of goals on both sides.

[Adit]

Its bit tough to keep CR in check a full 90 minute. One small mistake is enough for him to score a goal.

[Kingofeverythingclassy]

Mind games, if a dud like Schmelzer can stop Robben, Lahm or Boateng can stop CR7.

What I loved on goal.com btw was today's article of Özil saying that Portugal is more than just Ronaldo, while they had the exact same article 3 days ago with Badstuber saying it.

Schmelzer had Kevin Douche with him who has 0 qualities for a LW & is more like a thug to support the LB like Bertnand was. So Robben was always double marked. And there was Kehl sometimes to cut off passing lines.

Its not very hard,there was a massive imbalance of wings. Lahm played LB & Ribery LW,Kroos drifted to the left to a more like L-CAM position,Piggy as a LCM while Gustavo/Tymo were RDM.

The whole team was left sides. If a dude is stranded on a wing with no one to play with & double marked its hard. And Schmelzer had 8-9 fouls in the first 30 odd minutes & then he had Kevin to foul with him.

The whole team changed when Lahm became RB because the balance of the team got restored. Lahm+Robben is awesomeness wrapped in a can.

[VivaStPauli]

Geee, we're doing serious analysis now? How boring. Okay:

Ronaldo will come over Portugals left wing, I assume. This puts him in direct contention with Müller and Boateng. Boateng is a proper defender, he's not perfect, but even when playing as a fullback, he will be defensively orientated.

In front of Boateng will be Thomas Müller, who is very hard working. Not a great tackler or anything, but he will try, and he will track back. No Großkreutz, but at least an annoyance, even to Ronaldo. Both Müller and Boateng are not significantly slower than Ronaldo. Sure, they are slower, but not so much to make it a huge problem.

Obviously Ronaldo will run at the defense with the ball at his feet, Müller trailing him, and he will run towards Boateng. More often than not, he'd beat Boateng in a 1on1, but this means either hugging the byline and having to cross, or drifting toward center, because great dribbling or not - you can't just run through a large black man.

Assuming CR7 will be looking to score, because he's a selfish tit, even though he has much bettered himself under Mou, he will gravitate towards the center. The next man he meets is Per Mertesacker.
Half of the people on here (you included) will be laughing about this, thinking Mertesacker is shit etc. etc., but this is an excellent tackler, with almost perfect positioning, who almostn ever commits a foul, and his main weakness is lack of pace. He will not need pace when Ronaldo is forced towards his position, so Ronaldo can either try his luck against Mertesacker, with now Boateng and Müller in his back, which means also dealing with Badstuber, or he can pull deeper and try to creat space for his teammates, by pulling the defence out of position, which ideally means Boateng will fall back to try and cover for whoever ran up behind Ronaldo, Mertesacker and Badstuber will keep closing space down the middle, Lahm won't even be looking at the ball, he'll be looking at Nani, most likely - and going deeper for CR7 means running into Khedira and Schweinsteiger, both players capable of dispossessing him on their own.

So this all combined will force Ronaldo to pass the ball a lot, to combine with Nani, and the other numbnuts, which he can probably do quite well, but which also basically nullifies his main strengths.

Sure, he's still an exceptionally dangerous player, but it's not like he'll get too many opportunites. Portugal will never win the midfield battle for position, and Germany will be dug in in Portugals half for much of the game, playing around their penalty box, handball style, trying to open passing lanes to outplay their two backlines of 4 each, because you can be sure Portugal will be defending with at least 10 men against us.

[Mamad]

germany players & their idols :

[VivaStPauli]

Those pics are awesome, Mamad, thanks. Where did you find them? I'm hoping for something I can read to accompany those pics

[Kingofeverythingclassy]

I hope Germany dont give too much importance to Ronaldo opening free space for Nani to make runs & for Mereiles to shoot. 1 thing is for sure,Coentrao + Ronaldo is an unstable flank defensively.

If I was Low,I would bring Reus in with his pace & goal-scoring abilities for Muller at the half time & try to hammer the right flank.

That apart Ronaldo has not done anything against Lahm. Lahm has had in his pocket,if he decides to come left he will probably have no success.

Best of Luck. I hope Germany dont give too much importance to Portugal & play to win. 3 points is crucial, a draw is a VERY bad result considering Germany play Denmark last who will defend with 11 men in the last match.

A loss can possibly result in Sure Shot Eliminination.

[urbaNRoots]

Reus - Thomas Rosicky's heir

[Mamad]

Those pics are awesome, Mamad, thanks. Where did you find them? I'm hoping for something I can read to accompany those pics

you're welcome bro. let me ask my friend. he finds pics.

[rwo power]

Google said this: http://www.welt.de/sport/fussball/em-2012/article106407843/Das-sind-die-Idole-der-deutschen-Nationalspieler.html

[rwo power]

At around 13:00 CEST (GMT+2), the DFB-PK will be broadcast live. Mats Hummels will be there to answer the questions of the journalists. (That is in 10 minutes from now.)

http://tv.dfb.de/index.php?view=292

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/em/startseite/570274/artikel_live-ab-13-uhr-hummels-in-der-pressekonferenz.html

[rwo power]

Gomez missed another sitter!

I just read the newsticker at Sport1 on TV - Holger Badstuber and Mario Gomez missed the plane back from Lviv to Gdansk. They had to dig out another plane to join up with the team again. XD

[Babun]

[la bestia negra]

Gomez missed another sitter!

I just read the newsticker at Sport1 on TV - Holger Badstuber and Mario Gomez missed the plane back from Lviv to Gdansk. They had to dig out another plane to join up with the team again. XD

[rwo power]

Thomas Müller playing goalkeeper:

http://tv.dfb.de/index.php?view=4719

(And in the end it looks as if Neuer wants to show off as striker, too)

[juventus101]

Ive always wondered something....why dont Podolski and Muller swap wings? This way, similar to Robben and Ribery at Bayern, they can cut in and strike the ball with their favoured foot? I understand that Podolski likez to strike the ball from the ldft at that tight angle and is very good at it, and Muller likss to cross the ball with his right, but i think it should at least be tried...

[VivaStPauli]

Ive always wondered something....why dont Podolski and Muller swap wings? This way, similar to Robben and Ribery at Bayern, they can cut in and strike the ball with their favoured foot? I understand that Podolski likez to strike the ball from the ldft at that tight angle and is very good at it, and Muller likss to cross the ball with his right, but i think it should at least be tried...

I never understood that myself, it should at least be tried. Podolski certainly has the technique to make use of that switch.

BTW, why don't we try Podolski as CF anyway? The way we play we want more of a SS-type striker there anyway... Ah, the number of formations I'd like to try...

[la bestia negra]

30 days till ze germans play against argentina

[Valkyrja]

There isn't any german full-back prospect out there ?

[rwo power]

Other than Lahm? We wish there was, we wish... But no

[Valkyrja]

Andreas Beck ? Zimmermann ? Schmelzer ? Aren't they better than Boateng ?

[rwo power]

Unfortunately not. Marcel Schmelzer usually messed up big time in international matches, just as Andreas Beck. Hm. Mathias Zimmermann... We will see how he will do when he plays in the CL qualification, I guess. So far it is too early to tell. Too bad we can't naturalize David Alaba. He'd have been perfect. ^^

[II Capitano]

Muller should not be allowed anywhere near the squad. All he ever was - was an overhyped "talented". Over the past two seasons, his limitations have been exposed pretty badly, in an inconsistent Bayern Munich side. Reus and Schurrle are better players and add more energy to Germany, IMO.

[Valkyrja]

Unfortunately not. Marcel Schmelzer usually messed up big time in international matches, just as Andreas Beck. Hm. Mathias Zimmermann... We will see how he will do when he plays in the CL qualification, I guess. So far it is too early to tell. Too bad we can't naturalize David Alaba. He'd have been perfect. ^^

What about Radjabali-Fardi ?

PS: Loew should try this formation :

Neuer
Lahm Hummels Howedes LB
Khedira Gundogan
Reus Ozil Gotze
Schurrle

[rwo power]

What about Radjabali-Fardi ?

I'm really sorry, but I haven't watched Hertha enough to give an informed opinion on that guy.

Edit: I just read in transfermarkt.de that he is currently injured (cruciate ligament ruptured) and he won't be back before mid October 2012.

PS: Loew should try this formation :

Neuer
Lahm Hummels Howedes LB
Khedira Gundogan
Reus Ozil Gotze
Schurrle

I would not drop Badstuber. IMO he is more solid than Hummels - he just plays much less spectacularly. But as it isn't a CB's job to forage forward, Badstuber actually does his job better than Hummels, especially as he plays more in the way that Löw wants to see.

Höwedes has been injured for quite a while; he first needs to show that he can regain his pre-injury form. As a matter of fact, even his starting place at Schalke is currently not secure and he might be benched there.

[urbaNRoots]

Schürrle as a lone striker

LÖW Y U NO USE POLDI CENTRALLY?

[Sponsored content]